Success for St Mary's Hospice in the Furness Charity Challenge

Talented singing group Voce impressed judges with their vocal performance at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on Wednesday January 26th to win £500 for St Mary’s Hospice in the Furness Building Society Charity Challenge talent competition final.

There was also a cash prize for Macmillan Cancer Support thanks to a stunning stage performance from 12-year old classical pianist Katherine Miller from Grange-over-Sands.

Voce – Phil McIntosh, Chris Warby and Mark Johnson - performed ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Miserables and dedicated the song to the fourth member of the group who is currently recovering from treatment for cancer. Voce are long-time supporters of St Mary’s Hospice and Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager, from St Mary’s was delighted to receive the prize of £500.

Other winners were 13-years-old Amy Jo Clough who won £1000 first prize for the Ryan Stanford Appeal in Lancaster to aid research into Alpers Syndrome, a rare genetic condition, and 19 year old student Kelsey May Cullen who won £250 for Liverpool’s Zoe’s Place Hospice for children under 5.

They were among 12 acts selected from across the North West taking part in the final of the competition which aimed to raise awareness of the excellent work undertaken by charities in the region and encourage people to step up and do something for others.

Chief Executive of the Furness Building Society Rob Cairns, who headed the judging panel, commented: “The quality of all the acts was fantastic. It was inspiring to see so many people give everything they had to aid their chosen charities, and to see the audience having such a great time supporting them. Furness Building Society is proud to have sponsored such a wonderful event – showcasing local talent and supporting local charity work.”

Bay Radio presenter Darren Milby was another of the judges along with the Mayor of Lancaster Coun. Tony Wade. Darren was also amazed at the quality of the finalists. He said:”I thought the judging would be easy, but the acts were so good, and so different, that it was very hard to select the winners.”